When I Was Your Man
by luna raya
Summary: She walked out of his life three months ago. But he can't let her go. With the help of an unlikely source, he works to get her back. And in the process learns, even those closests to you, can work to hurt you.


_This is just a little o/s I've been tinkering with for a couple months now. Was clearing out my hard drive and found it again, decided to just post it. Hope you like it._

_Disclaimer: Belongs to S. Meyer. I'm just borrowing._

* * *

He's tied and retied his tie three times now, but it still isn't working. His hands are shaking too badly for it to cooperate. As he lets out a growl of frustration, she walks into the room and over to him immediately.

Batting his hands away, she grabs for his tie. "Here, let me."

She makes quick work of the blue silk tie, laying it flat against his front before moving away. He watches her move, the way her blue dress fits her beautifully showing off the slight bump she doesn't think he's yet noticed. Sitting on the edge of his bed, he moves to put his shoes on, keeping his eyes on her the whole time.

"Do you think this will work?"

"Honestly?"

"Of course," he replies as he drops his gaze to the thin laces of his dress shoes.

"I don't know."

He looks up from tying his shoes, not expecting that answer. He was hoping for more positivity. "Why?"

"Because it's been three months. A lot can happen in three months. And entire life can change in less time."

"What's that supposed to mean?" He has a feeling she's talking about more than just his current situation, but doesn't push the subject. Not yet anyway.

"It's been three months. Not three days."

Her point makes him defensive. "I was on tour. I couldn't just cancel every show, regardless of how much I wish otherwise. This is my job, after all. People rely on me to perform so they can work to put food on their tables too."

"No, I know, I know. I'm just saying, it's been three months, you haven't really had any kind of contact with her, for all we know, she's ready to move on if she hasn't already." She looks at him then, her eyes sad. Again he wants to press, but refrains. "Sometimes some people move on faster than others."

That is like a kick to the gut, but he doesn't show it. He doesn't really have a right anymore. Instead, he nods and goes back to finish tying his other shoe. "I know. And she'd have every right. But Jess, I want to be selfish. I want to be so fucking selfish. I want her to be waiting."

"I know you do, Eddie." She's standing in front of him, her hand cupping his cheek, caressing it in a way that's maternal. "But I need you to be prepared for the worst."

Looking away from her gaze, he inhales deeply. "Three months apart, I've accepted the worst."

The car pulls up to the front of the park, where the reception is being held. As they exit the car, he pulls his sunglasses on hoping no one will recognize him before he can do what he came to accomplish. There doesn't seem to be anyone lingering around the park today though, since it has been rented for a private event. He's hoping that works in his favor.

He bites his lip, squeezes his hands together, and tries to take deep breaths. He's a nervous wreck and nothing is helping. Not even the tricks he uses before he hits the stage are helping.

"How'd you get an invite to this anyhow? Didn't think you were all that close to Angela or Ben."

"You don't know everything about my life," she bites back and he wants to ask her to tell him then, tell him how she came to have that bump she's trying to hide, tell him why she looks at him with those broken eyes whenever they talk about his goal; but this isn't the time or place. "Just because I didn't hang out with them every second growing up doesn't mean Angela wasn't a friend. Some of us can still keep in touch with the people we grew up with. Not all of us are fodder for the media."

It's a dig but he lets it go. He'd been friends with Ben once upon a time, from elementary on up to high school. But then he started writing music, and then he started playing that music, and somewhere along the way, not long before graduation, a talent scout had seen him perform and the rest as they say, was magical history. Edward Masen was now one of the biggest names in the music industry, and with his sister, Jessica, by his side as his publicist, he'd become unstoppable.

But only professionally. Personally, everything had hit a roadblock.

"And you're sure she'll be here?"

Jessica huffs. "Angela said she's the maid of honor. Most women don't flake out when asked, since as the name states, it is an _honor_."

"Right. Just checking." His hands move to run through his hair, hair he'd spent nearly an hour trying to tame which took less than a minute to ruin.

"Honestly, Edward, you need to relax if this is going to work."

Looking at Jessica for a moment, he can't help but wonder. "Why are you helping me?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean what I asked. Why are you helping me?" He stops walking as he asks. He wants to look at her to have this conversation. "You never liked her, not even before everything got started with those scouts."

"That's because she was a gold-digging whore." The words are out before she can stop them and his face turns angry. Instantly she looks regretful but it doesn't stop the fact she said what she did.

"How can you say that? She knew me – _us_ – before all this started. Hell, we met when we were five for fuck's sake! It's not like I was swimming in money back then." He's frustrated that this argument still exists. He can't even count how many times throughout their life he's had to argue and defend his feelings. It's been a breaking point so many times, he's hoping it doesn't tip the scale this time.

"No, but mom and dad have money and her family didn't."

"So you think a five year old plotted? Or that her parents told her to get close to us? What child have you ever seen, who at five, has the mentally ability to understand worming their way into a person's life for the sake of bleeding them dry?" He looks at her like she's less than human, or at least that's how his look makes her feel. "You are my twin, but I feel like you're speaking crazy and I don't really know you at all. Paranoia over something that after _twenty years_ has still yet to come to fruition. You are insane. How did you even get these thoughts? No one else has ever thought it. Mom and dad love her and are furious with _me_ for what happened!"

"Lauren thought it. Her mom did too," she defends though she knows it's weak. It's a slippery argument, one that makes her look like an even bigger fool.

"Oh right. Yes, I'm supposed to take their word for it. A plastic bitch and her equally fake daughter." He has lost his cool, but not his head. He hopes no one has noticed their argument. "If there is anyone who is greedy, or gold-digging, it would be them. Especially since Mrs. Mallory enjoys hitting on dad every so often. Or have you forgotten that fact?"

"No, I haven't forgotten. Why do you think I'm not friends with her anymore?"

"Let me get this straight then," he begins, stepping closer to her. "You listened to someone you know for a fact to be a gold-digging whore call someone who is completely innocent one, especially since look at what I'm trying to accomplish, and you believe them? You have some serious issues."

"Lauren always liked you, I never understood why you didn't like her back."

"Really? After the way she tried to use you once the money started coming in, you didn't understand?"

"I get it now, but back then, you never even looked her way. You were too blind." Her argument is spinning in circles. "I thought you were too blind."

"And that never once made you think she wasn't jealous or vindictive? That never once made you question if her thoughts on this whole situation weren't even the slightest bit bias? 'Edward doesn't like me so let's make up lies about the girl he _does_ like, the girl he _loves_. And now, his sister hates her too, so she'll never stand a chance. Win.'"

"I only acted how I thought was best. I didn't want to see you get hurt because of some girl who was fickle and poor."

"So _you_ hurt me instead? You with your gifted money and apparent class, it's okay for you to hurt me?" It's a rhetorical question and getting him nowhere. "So what is the point of today then? Again, why are you helping me since you obviously do not care? Even after all this time."

He is walking away, not bothering to wait for her answer, toward the tent so she has to run to catch up. Grabbing onto his wrist she stops him again. "I'm helping because _she_ walked away."

"What?"

"She walked away. You lied to her, didn't keep your promise and rather than stick it out because you gave her unlimited spending capabilities and everything a materialistic heart could want, she walked away from you." She looks down, guilt covering her features. "That night, in Hamburg, right before you went on stage and couldn't find her? She called me from the airport. She told me I should be happy, I got what I wanted. She was done trying to matter in a world that didn't care about her, done trying to fit into a life that didn't have time for hers. She said she knew I was never going to like her, no matter what, even if she didn't understand why, so she hoped I was happy to finally be rid of her.

"I arrived at your house the next day and found every single thing you'd ever bought for her, the clothes, jewelry, books, all of it, waiting just inside." Tears well in her eyes as his pain flashes across his face. She'd never told him this for a reason. He was her twin, her other half, and this truth would break that bond more than anything else could. "And on top of the pile was the ring you gave her only a month earlier." She has to swallow back her emotion to continue speaking. "I figured she would've pawned it you know. It was worth so much and like I believed, she'd get a ton of money out of it because that was all she wanted. But she left it. And after a month of hearing nothing from the press about you or the two of you, I figured maybe I had been wrong all along. After three months, I know I've been wrong."

He looks away as his hand seeks out the ring she speaks of. He's carried it with him everywhere since finding out. Just as he carried it everywhere before working up the courage to ask her to marry him, he carries it now as a reminder of what was lost. It's still hard to imagine that only a month after promising her he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her, she left him. But he understands. He promised her so much, and in the end, he didn't keep any of them.

"She's not a gold-digger, she's not a whore. I'm sorry, I shouldn't have said that. Hell, I shouldn't have even though it!" Jessica continues after a beat. "But I was worried. I see what kind of women throw themselves at you night after night, and I didn't want you to fall victim to that. I didn't want Lauren and her mom to be right because I knew it would break your heart and I couldn't handle that. Instead, I broke it."

"I've loved her since we were five years old. We were each other's first and only everything. She knew me before the spotlight, before all the women found a reason to throw themselves at me," he spits in disgust after hearing his sister speak. "She was always the one encouraging me, always the one sticking by my side when I failed and that first deal that fell through and I thought no one would sign me? She was the one who told me it was going to happen and not give up on my dream." He shakes his head feeling his heart break again. "Never once did she ask for a goddamn thing. And most of the stuff she had that I gave her, I had to trick her into taking. She didn't want anything." He looks at his sister and lets a laugh escape. "All she wanted was me. The one thing that didn't cost a thing."

He looks to the sky after his speech and sees how sunny it is, given that it's Forks. It's then he wonders if he's doing the right thing. "Maybe she's better off without me."

"What?" Jessica's head snaps up, her tears running tracks down her cheeks and smearing her makeup. "How can you say that after everything you just declared?"

"Because of it," Edward answers. "She left me in Germany because I wasn't living up to my end of the deal. She saw that I was a lost cause and that life with me wasn't what she thought it would be. I told her no matter how big things got, I'd always be there for her, always make time, and I failed. I can't handle disappointing her again. I wouldn't be able to survive hurting her any further."

"Why do you think she'd be disappointed? You realize the error of your ways, and from what Marcus and Felix have told me, you're not touring again for a while and when you do, it's not the same venues." She steps in front of him and holds his face. "You changed because you saw what your choices did. You saw how you missed her."

"I shouldn't have ever _had_ to miss her. I let fame go to my head. I let corporations dictate my life and who I spent my time with. I alienated the only person I've ever loved."

"And what do you think your life will be like if you never get that love back? What do you think it'll be like if you never try?"

His anger was still radiating through him at the thoughts his sister had shared, knowing she knew what had happened back in Germany and had never told him anything. But she was right about one thing: he didn't want to add the regret of not trying to his list. "Fine. But once this is over, we're going to sit down and have long talk."

The tent is full of laughter as they enter. Jessica has led them to the back, where Angela instructed her to go so that no scene is caused. He's to wait for the prime moment, after the bride and groom have had their first dance and everyone is allowed on the floor, to come out and sing for her.

His nerves are at an all-time high.

"There's Angela. I'll be right back." Jessica walks the few steps to speak to the bride, who is standing beside the wedding party's table. The festivities have yet to officially start. He can hear their conversation, but just slightly. "Angela! Congratulations!"

"Jessica, you made it!" The women hug.

"Of course I did. Brought along a surprise too, if you don't mind." She points back toward Edward, who is trying to stay hidden.

"Of course not. I think it's so romantic."

"Is she here?" Jessica asks quickly.

"Yes, she's right over there with Emmett and Jacob."

Three sets of eyes land on her with the tall, muscular men. She's laughing, lightly touching Jacob's arm and standing very close to him as he tells another joke. "She doesn't waste any time does she."

Again, the words are out before she can stop them. Edward sees red, wondering who this woman is who claims to be his sister and why she is so angry and vicious. And only toward one woman. Fortunately, Edward has an ally. "Actually, you may want to rethink your hatred of her. Look down." The eyes follow their instructions, to see a very pregnant Rosalie sitting in one of the chairs, her face lit up with a smile. And next to her is equally pregnant Leah, who is also smiling. "They're both due any moment now. Rosalie has insisted Emmett dance to his heart's desire and Leah is just glad Jacob has someone willing to put up with his two left feet. She was the only one who is in attendance without a date and since we all grew up together, it didn't seem that big of a deal."

That revelation promptly quiets Jessica and lifts Edward. "I'm so sorry. I don't know why I said that."

"You know, I don't either. All she's ever done is love your brother and be a good friend. Yet you've always treated her as though she were beneath you. It didn't matter what she did or didn't do, she was never good enough. Which makes me wonder what you really think of me, since she and I are from the same social class." The words are on point. If Angela is acceptable, what's the difference then? "Sometimes I wonder how you and Edward are related let alone twins, since you really are superficial." Angela's words stun Jessica and make Edward proud. He's thankful someone other than himself is setting his sister straight. "Besides, you wouldn't want what you think you're hiding to grow up with an attitude like yours."

"What?" Jessica's eyes widen.

"Ten minutes. Edward can perform in ten minutes." With that, Angela walks off. Jessica stays away from Edward, pretending to mingle.

True to her word, ten minutes later Edward is approached by Ben. After congratulating the man with a smile, Edward is told they have a piano from the band that he can use.

"Angie and I are both rooting for you. She's been… well, she hasn't been the same since what happened and we're hoping things turn around. For both of you." Ben leads him to the piano, standing on the outside so no one notices yet. "What song are you going to sing?"

"A new one."

"Well, good luck man."

He takes his seat at the bench, and with a deep inhale, presses his fingers to the keys. Immediately the crowd looks his way, but he can't focus on them. He can only focus on the words he needs to sing, and the heart he hopes they reach.

_Same bed but it feels just  
A little bit bigger now  
Our song on the radio  
But it don't sound the same  
When our friends talk about you  
All it does is just tear me down  
Cause my heart breaks a little  
When I hear your name  
It all just sounds like (oooooh)  
Mmm too young too dumb to realize  
That I_

_Should've bought you flowers  
And held your hand  
Should've gave you all my hours  
When I had the chance  
Take you to every party  
Cause all you wanted to do was dance  
Now my baby is dancing  
But she's dancing with another man_

He looks up to see that while some people have started dancing, others are staring, surprised to see who is playing. No one knew the famous Edward Masen was making an appearance today. Least of all her.

_My pride, my ego, my needs and my selfish ways  
Caused a good strong woman like you to walk out my life  
Now I never never get to clean up the mess I made  
Ooh and it hunts me every time I close my eyes  
It all just sounds like (oooooh)  
Mmm too young too dumb to realize  
That I_

_Should've bought you flowers  
And held your hand  
Should've gave you all my hours  
When I had the chance  
Take you to every party  
Cause all you wanted to do was dance  
Now my baby is dancing  
But she's dancing with another man_

_Although it hurts  
I'll be the first to say  
That I was wrooooong  
Oooh I know I'm probably much too late  
To try and apologize for my mistakes  
But I just want you to know_

He looks right at her, hoping she hears his plea. He hopes he's not too late like the song implies.

_I hope he buys you flowers  
I hope he holds your hand  
Give you all his hours  
When he has the chance  
Take you to every party  
Cause I remember how much  
You loved to dance  
Do all the things I should've done  
When I was your man  
Do all the things I should've done  
When I was your man_

As the last of the chords fade, he can see she's crying. But before he can do anything, she runs from the tent. He stands immediately, and runs after her. Thankfully, everyone is too stunned by what happened to get in his way.

"Bella!" he shouts as he sees her run down the grass toward the line of cars. "Bella, wait!" He can see she's struggling to run, her heels digging into the soft earth and he surges forward, using it to his advantage. As he catches up to her, his hand gently comes to grip her elbow. "Please wait."

Tears are streaming down her face as she spins on him, removing her from his grasp. "What? What do you want, Edward?" He moves to answer but she doesn't let him. "It's over, okay? You no longer have to concern yourself with the poor little girlfriend. You can do whatever you want with whoever you want and you don't have to think about the fact that I'm waiting around for you, burdening you with my presence. So just go."

"I am doing what I want," he starts, wanting so badly to touch her again. "I want to be here, with you."

She laughs and it's bitter. He's never heard such an ugly sound come from her and it rips at him. "No you don't. And you are so much more than me. Can do so much better. I know, I've seen it, felt it."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"All I wanted was to be with you. It didn't matter if you had a dollar to your name or all the money in the world. I just wanted to be with you. But the world wanted you too. And you wanted the world. I realized I was holding you back. That I was keeping you from reaching your potential because you always had to think about me before you did anything." The tears are still running, though her sobs have ceased. "I thought we could make it. We'd been together for so long, you know? I thought we could do anything as long as we were together. But then…."

"Then what?" His heart is shattered worse now, seeing her this way.

"Then I had to face reality. You are so much better than me. And I see that, clearly, now, I do. I was holding you back, being a burden where you really didn't need one. You couldn't live your life and your potential with me in the way, and I cannot be selfish and want you all for myself." She wipes her face and he can see through the smile she plasters across her lips, pretending. "So, go. Go be great, Edward Masen. Go be great, and never think of me again. Trust me, it'll be better this way."

She starts to walk away then, as though everything she's just said is enough. She walks away as though everything she just said isn't lacerating his very soul. "I don't want to be great. I don't want to be anything. Not without you. Because I am _nothing_ without you," he begins. "That night, in Germany, I was worried sick when I couldn't find you backstage. I called everyone, especially since you weren't answering _your_ phone. I almost cancelled the show," this gets her attention and she stops, "but then Jess called and told me she'd spoken to you, but you were feeling ill and were probably just sleeping. I rushed through my concert, through the backstage antics to get back to the hotel. But you weren't there.

"I couldn't get ahold of Jess after that, so I started to worry, calling damn near everyone I could think until she called me the next day. Guess she'd flown home that night too, found what you'd left behind. She tried to comfort me, said it was for the best. Though now that I've heard her speak more… _openly_, I understand she wasn't comforting me at all." He stops and looks at her, at her back since she still won't turn around. "I tried cancelling the rest of the tour, promising to reschedule. But no one would let me. There was too much money invested to halt everything over my love life. At least, that's what I was told. Looking back, I wish I would've told everyone to fuck off."

"I'm not worth it, Edward." Her voice is quiet, hollow.

"Bullshit," he nearly shouts, moving toward her and spinning her to him once again. "You are worth everything and more. This life I have now, I wouldn't have it if not for you. You believed in me when I didn't believe in myself. You stayed by my side through everything. And you never asked for anything. I love you, Bella Swan, and I am never going to love anyone else. You are it for me."

"You can't say that to me. Because I know it's not true. You want the world. I'm an insignificant part in it."

"Never tell the one you care about or love that you're too busy for them. One day, maybe tomorrow, or maybe two years from now, they will be too busy for you. Or maybe they'll just be gone." He cups her cheek, brushing away her tears. "I didn't realize it at the time, but when I was writing with Jasper, and he showed me those words for a new song, it was about me. I just thought they'd be good lyrics. But he was trying to tell me how stupid I was. All those times I didn't have time, when in reality, I could have made time, I regret every single one."

"I knew you'd be busy once your career took off. I should have expected you to not have time for me."

"That is ridiculous. There is nothing in this world more important to me than you. I don't need fame and fortune if it means I've lost you." Pulling the ring from his pocket, he holds it up, letting it gleam in the sun. "I made a promise to you when we first started dating as teenagers. And I made another promise when I gave you this ring. I have shamefully broken both. But I am begging you to give me second chance. I love you, Bella." He moves to her, taking her hands in his. "I will give everything up if it means you'll come back to me."

"I can't ask that of you, Edward. This was your dream." She looks away from him, more tears pooling. "Besides, the last thing I want is for Jessica to be right."

"Right?"

"All I want is your money, that's what she believes. She thinks she hides it well, but the truth is, I have heard her talk about me more times than I can count. And sometimes, she says it to my face. Germany was the last straw."

He cocks his head to the side, looking at her wearily. "What happened in Germany?"

He watches her face pale, and she takes a step back. "It was nothing. Forget I said anything."

"No, Bella, what happened in Germany?" He can't imagine anything more because more would mean he could very well lose his sister.

"It's nothing, really." She tries to move away from him but his hands find purchase on her arms, gripping. "Really, Edward. Don't worry about it."

"Don't worry about it?" he asks incredulity. "How can you say that? It took you from me, you said so yourself. Whatever you're hiding, it was your last straw and made me lose you. I think I deserve the right to know."

Time seems to stand still, emotions running rampant across her face through her eyes. But finally, resolve settles as a deep sigh of resignation leaves her mouth. "It was during your rehearsal. I was standing on the side, watching you get ready, when Jessica approached me. I didn't think anything of it, she's stood by me before so I kept watching." Her eyes leave his with a shake of her head. "After a couple minutes, she started talking. She told me the studio was starting to put pressure on you, that they were starting to get tired of having to deal with me, having to always come up for a ticket for me everywhere, make sure I'm _entertained_ while you're doing your job." She doesn't look at him. "She said they wanted you to have a _riskier_ image, and having stable relationship wasn't helping that. You needed to be the _bad boy_, a different woman on your arm, keep the fans salivating."

"What? The studio hasn't said anything to me about you. And there is no way in hell I'm whoring myself out for them."

"You just said they wouldn't let you cancel the rest of your concerts because of your 'love life.'"

Shaking his head, he breathes deeply. "That's not the same thing. They wouldn't let me cancel because my fiancé leaving me is not a good enough reason to stop playing. However, never once did they come to me and tell me they were tired of dealing with you, tired of having to do anything for you. You are so fucking low-maintenance, never asking for anything, they probably don't really think too much about you." He doesn't say this to be mean. It's the truth. Bella never asked for a single thing while he was touring and she was there. And always found a way to make things easier on him so he didn't have to think too much. "Jesus Christ, if anything, they'd probably want to hire you because you were the one who kept me on schedule. You were the one who always had a plan for any occurrence that would come up."

"Jessica said Marcus felt like I was too much of a distraction as well. You weren't concentrating enough on your job."

"Marcus loves you, Bella!" he nearly shouts. "You have no idea how much you've charmed him. And I know if Felix wasn't gay, he'd want you too." Shaking his head he barks out a laugh. "They both love having you around. In fact, when I told them I wasn't touring the next album like this one, that I wanted smaller venues, shorter schedules, they understood. The understood my need to be with you. Hell, I even told them if I couldn't have you, I didn't want any of this. They both got it. Does that really sound like a label that wants me in the tabloids?"

She's crying again and he knows tears are in his eyes too. "You are so amazing, Edward. The world needs you."

"I need you more."

"Your sister hates me. That's never going to change. And I won't be what comes between you."

He closes his eyes and inhales sharply through his nose. "You would never come between us. But there is a division between us and it is all her doing." Stepping forward, he takes her hands. "Jess told me some things while we were on our way here today. Some of the things she said, when I'm sure she didn't mean too, especially when she was speaking to Angela, they have made me wonder just who she really is. She may be my sister, my twin, but right now, I don't know her. It is going to take a lot for me to forgive her for what she's done."

"No, Edward, like you said, she's your sister, your _twin_, you can't think like that!"

"I can't think any other way," he argues, knowing this is right, that this is his truth. "She has… there is something wrong with her to make her act the way she has, to treat you like she has. And the fact that she's sabotaged so diligently our relationship, I can't be around that. My parents love you, but Jessica, she has some twisted thoughts in her head and I can't be a part of that. I won't let her drive you away because she has lost her mind."

Her eyes are full of remorse, and he sees she feels guilt for this. "Edward…."

"No. Don't do this," he grabs her trembling hands, holding her to him. "Don't let go, Bella, please, don't let go." She looks away, back toward the tent where the reception is still in full swing. "I love you more than life itself. There is nothing in this world that I want more than you. And if it means I have to walk away from music, I _will_ do that. Because that success means nothing if I've _failed_ you." Tears have formed in his eyes and are slowing running down his cheeks. "And as for my sister… you have to understand, even if you walk away from me today, things between her and I are not going to be the same. I won't be able to trust her like I have, won't be able to believe in her. Even if you walk out of my life, I won't be able to just accept her back like everything is fine.

"Perhaps one day, I will be able to move on from this, but it won't happen today and not tomorrow either." He is staring so intently into her eyes that he feels lost. "Please don't leave me again, Bella. Please don't walk away from me."

_Six Months Later…._

"Hey, Mom," he answers his cell, juggling it and his acoustic guitar while trying to keep his attention on the sheet music in front of him. He's been stuck dumb with an idea and has found his brain is working faster than his hands are able. And with another tour coming up in only a few months, he needs to get his newest album out soon.

"_Hi, honey,"_ she begins, her voice warm and just what a mother should sound like. _"I just wanted to call and let you know Jess had a little boy."_

His pencil freezes over the paper, his thought gone. Taking a moment, he swallows, breathes. "Oh yeah. What's his name?"

"_Samuel Edward_," his mother responds. _"He's quite perfect. All ten fingers and toes. And the darkest eyes. Think they're going to be brown like his father's."_

He inhales steadily before releasing the breath slowly. After Angela and Ben's reception, Edward didn't speak to Jessica for a few months. He couldn't get past her betrayal. And his parents almost didn't either until she announced she was nearly four months pregnant in a moment of desperation. Turns out, the father was an independent rocker named Liam that Jessica met while the tour was playing a show in London. Jessica and Liam had hung out the entire time the tour was there, and had slept together. When it was time for the tour to move on, Liam had already moved on to the next girl and pretended Jessica didn't even exist.

Jessica had been furious. And jilted. No man had ever blatantly humiliated her like that before and it made her angry. In her anger, Bella became her target. Every single bit of fury became directed at Bella and all the ways Jessica had decided Bella was destroying his life. Because he had loved Bella so fiercely, while Jessica was abandoned by Liam immediately, Jessica took offense. She'd always had a sense of self-entitlement brought on by their affluent upbringing, and decided to push someone she deemed "less than" away. No matter the price.

Their parents had been horrified at the lengths Jessica had gone to get her revenge. And were even more tormented over the idea that their daughter's upbringing was somewhat responsible for her view on life and people since they always tended to spoil their children because they could. In the end though, because they wanted to know their grandchild, they formed a tumultuous relationship with Jessica. She wasn't forgiven, not by a long shot, but she was not completely banished either.

He was the only one who couldn't move past his twin's actions. And while he was happy to hear of a healthy birth, and knowing one day he'd very much love to meet his nephew, he just wasn't there yet.

"That's good to hear, mom," he responds softly.

_"I'll send you some pictures later."_

"That'd be great." He lays his guitar down just as the door to his home studio opens. His heart skips a beat as he watches Bella walk toward him, a small smile on her face. "Listen, tell Jess… tell her congratulations. I'll talk to you guys later. Love you."

"She had the baby?" Bella asks as she moves to stand in front of him. He nods which prompts her to ask the gender and name. "A boy. He has a good strong name."

"Yeah, she gave him my name." He nuzzles her stomach with a smile, as her fingers slide through his hair. "I know what you're thinking. And one day, it'll happen. I just can't get past it quite yet." She's been a saint in regards to his sister. While she'll never be able to get over what occurred, Bella didn't want him to lose his sister, even if they only became acquaintances, she still wanted that for him. He fingers her engagement ring and the solid gold ban that matches his own. It took more than a month of Bella needing time to think and trust again. And once that time was gone, they tried dating again only to find that they were so tired of the wait. A quick elopement to Vegas solved that problem and made him the happiest man in the world. "One day."

"That's good. I never had any cousins growing up. I'd hate for our little one to grow up the same."

"Cousins?" he asks looking up at her. There's a secret in her eyes, one that makes his heart completely melt. "Oh God, Bella. Thank you. Thank you for giving me another chance, for giving me this gift." He nuzzles her belly again, taking reverance in the life growing inside her now.

"I wouldn't have been able to stay away."

"I love you so fucking much."

"I love you too."

End

* * *

_A little angsty, but nothing too deep. Let me know what you thought! Thanks! : )_

_Song credit: When I Was Your Man by Bruno Mars_


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